I got my industrial done on my eighteenth birthday, January14th. I had originally gone in for my eyebrow, and for a long time, I had wanted my industrial, so I decided to get it done as well. I was nervous, but I knew I would be okay with it. I was sure that it would hurt for sure. I heard from one or two people that it didn't hurt bad, and I had absolutely nothing to worry about, but then there were a few that had told me that it hurt, and nothing really helps with the pain.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Rocco Studio Windham Tattoo and Body Piercing Location Windham Maine So I sit down in the chair, after signing all of the necessary paperwork, and getting my eyebrow pierced. Where I go for my piercing, (Windham Tattoo and Body Piercing) they numb pretty much every piercing. So of course, when they had done my eyebrow, I had hardly felt it. So he starts cleaning my ear, and getting out all of the jewelry and the needles to do the piercing. He applied the numbing product (which I later found out was the numbing stuff they use at the dentist that only works on mucus membranes!) and made the marks, I looked in the mirror to see if it was at the right angle, and everything looked good. So he went ahead with the piercing.
After he did the piercing, it was bleeding, so he cleaned it up a little, and let me look at it. So I stood up and walked over the mirror, which happened to take up the entire wall. When I took the first glance, I was like
"Oh my god, that looks awesome, thank you!" and he replied with
"No problem, so you think it came out ok?"
So I decided to take another look at it, just to make sure.
I have no idea what I was thinking saying it looked ok. My ear looked horrible. It was really red, which I knew was normal, but it was also pulled together, and was pinched in between the barbell. I suppose when he had pierced it, he had done it at the wrong angle, and the barbell became too short.
"Is my ear supposed to look like this?" I pointed to my ear and asked him
"Oh no, shoot, I messed up......uhmmm.... Well we can re pierce it, come sit down, and it will only take a minute." He said.
I began to explain to him that I did not want it re-pierced, for the simple fact that I will have 2 additional holes in my ear, just to cause more pain. He then began to explain that if I leave this barbell in, I should be ok, and to just come back in 6 weeks and they will change it.
The manager/Owner, Dave walked in. He looked at the piercing, and said that if I leave it like that, I would be calling back in a few hours in a huge amount of pain, and he could get into a lot of trouble. So in the end, what ended up happening was they took out the barbell that was too small, and replaced it with the only other barbell they had on hand, that would fit. It turned out to be a two inch barbell, which was way too long. In the end, I didn't complain. I felt that I had gotten Rocco (the young man who did my piercing) in too much trouble, and I felt bad, so I decided not to complain anymore. Over the next few weeks, it healed fine, no trouble with it at all. I had down graded to a smaller barbell, but since there was still some swelling, I took that out, and now have hoops. The hoops are a lot easier when it comes to cleaning and what not. Not to mention, nothing gets caught in my hair anymore!
The conclusion I had come to, is that the industrial hurt worse than I was planning. This is going to sound stupid, but I actually broke down and started crying at one point, because I was in so much pain. I got a couple of head aches form it and the Tylenol didn't help. I tried ice, which didn't help wither. I didn't find anything that would help comfort me with the pain, except for a nice hot shower. For cleaning, I would suggest dial, everyone says to use the liquid, but I swear by the foam. I feel that it works just as good, and isn't as...soapy.
My word of advice for anyone getting a piercing, or tattoo, is to know who the person who is doing it. Make sure that they are experienced enough, and know what they are doing.
Oh, and by the way, the industrial didn't hurt that bad when I got it done, but it definitely hurt afterwards.